Mini modern cabins

Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Only two students had previous experience in construction, but perhaps the biggest challenge for some: collaborating in teams, an experience that undergraduate architecture student Simone Salame described as "interesting." (That's Salame, left, with architecture graduate student Ahmed Shokir.) "We had to put our egos aside," she said. The students spent six weeks on planning and design followed by nine weeks of construction, under the guidance of contractor Marc Rapisardi, who visited the site once a week.

Only two students had previous experience in construction, but perhaps the biggest challenge for some: collaborating in teams, an experience that undergraduate architecture student Simone Salame described as "interesting." (That's Salame, left, with architecture graduate student Ahmed Shokir.) "We had to put our egos aside," she said. The students spent six weeks on planning and design followed by nine weeks of construction, under the guidance of contractor Marc Rapisardi, who visited the site once a week. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Only two students had previous experience in construction, but perhaps the biggest challenge for some: collaborating in teams, an experience that undergraduate architecture student Simone Salame described as "interesting." (That's Salame, left, with architecture graduate student Ahmed Shokir.) "We had to put our egos aside," she said. The students spent six weeks on planning and design followed by nine weeks of construction, under the guidance of contractor Marc Rapisardi, who visited the site once a week.